New Delhi: "It took a lot of time...only three minutes," replied Hardik Pandya when asked about how long it took him to shrug off the entire frustration after his relentless effort to take India through, went in vain in the ICC Champions Trophy final.
Chasing a massive total of 339 runs set forth by the Pakistani team, Indian batsmen fell like ninepins to the brilliant pace attack of Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali. Amir ripped through the formidable top-order batting line-up before Hasan and Shadab Khan combined to demolish the middle-order, crumbling down the Men in Blue to mere 72/6 in the 17th over.
Hardik Pandya then entered the scene with India staring at a near-miracle chase. The hard-hitting right-hander notched up a few boundaries and sixes to resurrect Indian hope of a comeback. The sea of Blue, that was present there at the Oval, erupted with immense joy as Pandya scored his half-century. But all had quickly come to an end when a run-out mishap in the 28th over, between Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, sent the former back to the pavilion.
Pandya, whose 46-ball 76 had brought back life into the faltering Indian innings, walked back to the dressing room as he flung his arms venting out his anger with immense frustration. Regardless of all, walking through the incident now, the 23-year-old can do nothing but laugh and added that it didn't take him long to forget the all the frustration that had piled up then.
Remembering the run-out and the action that followed then, Pandya said, "I thought it was just an outburst. Nothing specific. It wasn't intentional. I am always like that in my life as well. I get hyper quickly and after a few minutes, I am laughing. Actually, I was laughing in the dressing room. I was disappointed but it’s all about a team sport. So you need to move forward."
Pandya said that even those sitting in the dressing room then, only stared at the funny side of it. "Obviously they were laughing. I reacted way too furiously", he continued.
The All-rounder is presently touring the Caribbean along with the Indian squad for a five-match ODI series against West Indies. In the fourth match played at Antigua, Pandya seemed to have found himself in a similar situation alongside MS Dhoni.
Although it was more of a manageable scenario for the duo, the sluggish nature of the pitch restricted the Indians to ramp up boundaries. Recalling a small on-field conversation with Dhoni, Pandya added, "the conversation was simple. The power we both have, we can chase down any total if required. It was more about staying there at the wicket and taking it deep. We were doing just that. It was unfortunate that I shuffled and got out. I faced a similar situation in the early stages of my career as well against New Zealand where I wasn’t able to finish the game but I know how to do it now."
India still lead the series by 2-1, with the aim to wrap up things in their favour when the take on the Windies for the final match, on July 6.
